Foss HS staff receive TPD’s highest civilian honor for intervening in stabbing
The Tacoma Police Department honored five Foss High School staff members during a press conference Thursday for their roles intervening in a knife attack that left six injured last month.
On the afternoon of April 30, four male students confronted 16-year-old Waleed Emad Essakhi at the school over a stolen vape pen, according to charging documents.
The confrontation escalated, and video footage provided to detectives shows Essakhi swinging a knife at the four students while they punched him, documents said.
Five students were injured, including Essakhi, as well as a security guard who helped break up the attack.
Prosecutors charged Essakhi with four counts of first-degree assault. He was charged as an adult.
The situation ended minutes after it began thanks to the intervention of multiple staff members, said TPD Chief Patti Jackson. Those employees were honored Thursday with special awards for their bravery at Tacoma Public School’s Professional Development Center.
Security guards Bonhoeffer Muao and Sharrese LuRee Johnson, as well as Coach David McEachern and Athletic Director Shiante Reed were awarded the Medal of Courage for “placing themselves in harms way to protect students and staff,” said TPD Chief Patti Jackson.
TPD also honored Nurse Ada Gutierrez with a Certificate of Merit for providing life-saving care to a student with severe stab wounds and a collapsed lung, ultimately saving his life.
“They acted decisively, selflessly and without hesitation,” Jackson said of the honorees during the press conference. “In moments like these, titles and job descriptions fall away quickly. What remains are people making difficult decisions in real time under pressure, with the safety of others depending on them.”
Muao was the security guard hurt while breaking up the assault, sustaining an injury on his hand.
“I was trained to keep the kids safe,” Muao said. “That’s exactly what we were doing and in the heat of things, I didn’t even realize I was hurt.”
Muao credits the bonds he built with the kids prior to the fight as the reason staff could break the fight up quickly.
“I truly believe that’s how we got the fight to end real quick,” he said. “It was easier that way when you have a good relationship with the students.”
McEachern echoed Muao’s statements and emphasized that this type of attack could happen at any school, not just Foss.
“A lot of these kids in their lives, they don’t trust people, and so you don’t know what they go through every day before they get to school,” McEachern said. “It’s very important that we take the time out to care about them and keep them safe.”
In her seven years as an employee, Reed said she’s never experienced an incident like the April assault before.
When the fight broke out, all that went through her mind was to separate the kids and make sure they were safe, she said.
“Foss means the world to me and the people in that building mean the world to me,” Reed said. “I’m very proud to be a Foss Falcon.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 8:35 PM.
